Breakdown of Pasażerowie czekają, bo pociąg ma opóźnienie.
mieć
to have
pociąg
train
bo
because
czekać
to wait
Questions & Answers about Pasażerowie czekają, bo pociąg ma opóźnienie.
Why does pasażer become pasażerowie in the plural instead of just adding -y or -i?
Pasażer is a masculine personal noun (a word for a male person or a mixed group of people). For many professions, roles, or titles, Polish uses the special plural ending -owie. Other common examples you might already know are panowie (gentlemen/men) and synowie (sons).
Why does the Polish sentence use ma (has) instead of a word for "is"?
In English, a train "is delayed", but in Polish, a train "has a delay". You use the verb mieć (to have) followed by the noun opóźnienie (a delay). Literally, this half of the sentence translates to "because the train has a delay."
If the current lesson is about arrival verbs like przyjechać, why are we using czekają and ma here?
This sentence describes ongoing, continuous states, not a completed arrival. The passengers are currently waiting (czekają) and the train currently has a delay (ma). Because these actions are ongoing, we use imperfective verbs. If you wanted to say the train finally arrived late, then you would switch to a perfective arrival verb: Pociąg przyjechał z opóźnieniem (The train arrived with a delay).
If I wanted to add that they are waiting for the train, how would I say that?